Shoe rack



June 14, R. E, I LER SHOE RACK Filed March 26, 1929 INVENTOR BY WWW ATTORNEY Patented June it, 1%32 STA'I'ES tATENT OFFICE SHOE RACK Application filed March 26, 1929. Serial No. 349,96".

My present invention relates generally to racks, and has particular reference to Wall racks designed primarily for the support of shoes or the like.

1-; Although I have illustrated and shall hereinafter describe a shoe rack, nevertheless it will be understood that certain phases of my invention are not limited to an application of this specific character. I

Briefly, my invention relates to the type of shoe rack wherein a pair of superposed supporting members each include a relatively narrow substantially horizontal shoe-supportin-g portion unequally spaced from the wall to which the rack is attached; the shoes being designed to be supported by having the heel of each shoe engage over the upper shoe-supporting portion and the sole of the shoe resting upon the lower shoe-supporting portion. so More particularly, the shoe-supporting portions are generally arranged in a common plane oblique to the horizontal, whereby the shoes are most conveniently supported in a neat and accessible manner.

A general. object of my present invention is to improve racks of the foregoing character to simplify the manufacture and construction thereof and to render the cost of manufacture extremely small. More particularly, so it is an object of my invention to provide a rackwherein no more than four elements are involved, each of the elements comprising a relatively narrow strip of metal capable of cutting and shaping from an initial continuous length or strip.

One of the features of my invention lies in providing a construction of such a character that the four elements referred to are composed of two pairs of elements, the two elements of each pair being identical with each other. Inthis way, the manufacture of racks in quantity involves the production of only two elements. A further feature of my invention "lies in constructing the elements of one pair of such a character that bending, shaping,or other steps which might entail the employment of special dies, is entirely avoided, the elements of this pair being nothing more than straight unbent strips.

A further-object of my invention lies in pro-- viding a rack which not only embodies the foregoing advantages of simplicity and low cost of manufacture, but also permits relative adjustment of the members thereof so as to provide flexibility of use and capability of compactness in shipping, storing, etc. In this connection, it is a particular feature of my present invention to provide means for pivoting the shoe-supporting portions with respect to a pair of attachment portions which connect the shoe-supporting portions and secure the entire device to a wall.

For the attainment of the foregoing objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have constructed a device embodying the features of my invention and illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a shoe .ck constructed in accordance with my pres ent invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the rack of Figure 1 illustratively attached to a wall and showing in dotted lines the position which a supported shoe would assume; and

Figure 3 is a front view showing the rack in an adjusted position.

Referring to the drawing, I will point out that one of the two superposed members ineludes the shoe-supporting portion 10 which is a straight unbent strip of suitable metal having its wider faces parallel to the vertical supporting wall to which the rack is to be attached. At its opposite ends, the shoe-supporting portion is provided with a pair of end elements which extend rearwardly, one of these end elements being shown at 11.

The lower of the two superposed members includes the shoe-supporting portion 12 which is identical in all respects with the portion 10 and is provided at its opposite ends with a pair of end elements extending rearwardly therefrom. One of these end elements is shown at 13 and it is to be noted that the element 13 is slightly longer than the element 11, though parallel. thereto, so

hat the shoe-supporting portions 12 and 10 lie in a common plane oblique to the horizontal; or in other words, the shoe-supportill) ing portions 10 and 12 are disposed one above the other in different vertical planes.

A rack of the present character also includes a pair of attachment members, each of which connects the rear ends of adjacent end elements. Thus, in Figure 1, I have shown an attachment member 14 extending between and connecting therear ends of the adjacent end elements 11 and 13 respectively. Each of the attachment members, such as the member 14, is provided with suitable means for securing it to the wall, and in the illus trated embodiment, I have shown'the member 14 provided with the spaced openings 15 through which screws or the like may be inserted.

In Figure 3, the symmetrical nature of my device will be apparent. An attachment member 14 is shown provided with openings 15, and connecting the other pair of adjacent end elements 11 and 13.'

In accordance with mypresent invention, I provide means forpivoting the attachment members 14 and 14 with respect to the shoesupporting portions 10 and 12, and more particularly, about horizontal axes. In the illustrated embodiment, 1 accomplish this object by constructing each of the attachment members integrally with the end elements whose rear ends it connects. Thus, the attachment member or strip 14 is integrally associated with the end elements or strips 11 and 13,

constituting, in fact, a midportion of a continuous straight strip suitably bent to provide the end strips 11 and 13.

Such an integral construction would not by itself, however, be suflicient to accomplish the desired object, and I thereforebend the forwardendof each of the end strips 11, 13, and 13 into a plane parallel to the vertical supporting wall. In Figure 1, I have shown the forward end 16 of the end strip 11 bent downwardly into a' vertical plane parallel to the'wall; and I have shown the forward end 17 of'the end strip 13 bent upwardly into a second verticaliplane parallel to the supporting wall. This disposition of the ends 16 and 17 (and the corresponding ends at the opposite end of the device) brings the ends'16 and 17 into parallelism with the supporting portions 10 and 12 and enables me to provide rivets or pins 18 and 19 respectively, whereby the end strip 11 is pivotally associated wit-h one extremity of the shoe-supporting portion 10, and whereby the end strip or element 13 is pivotally associated with the corresponding extremity of the shoesupporting portion 12. It is to be noted that all of the pivotal associations thus provided involve axes which are horizontal, and more particularly, perpendicular to the supporting wall. As a result of this, a relative pivoting between the shoe-supportingportions 10 and 12, on the one hand, and the attachment members 14 and 14, on the other hand, is provided for.

In Figure 3, a typical adjustment has been illustrated, and it is to be noted that the shoesupporting portions 10 and 12 have been brought into closer relationship so that they now lie in a common plane, still oblique to the horizontal, but at a smaller angle thereto. The advantages of this adjustability need hardly be elaborated upon. For the support of smaller shoes, for example, the portions 10 and 12 might be desired to be positioned as shown in Figure 3. Furthermore, an adjustment of this character renders the end strips 11 and 13 capable of supporting shoes in a similar manner. Furthermore, it permits a certain fiexibilitywith respect to the relative positions of the openings 15 and 15', so that facilities for attachment may be compensated for. And finally, a further adjustment than that shown in Figure 3 enables the entire device to be collapsed into a substantially common plane whereby shipment, storage,

and the like are greatly facilitated.

It is to be noted that the advantages hereinbefore outlined regarding adjustment, compactness and the like are achieved with a minimum of manufacturing expense and a maximum of: simplicity ofconstruction. Where shoe racks of this character are manufactured in quantity, only two different elements need be involved, viz., the element 14 and the element 10. If a plurality of elements identical with 14 be constructed, and plurality of. plain unbent strips like the strip 10 be provided, then it is only necessary to select two of each and unite them by suitable rivets or studs to provide a complete shoe rack of the present character. As a result of this, a minimum of manufacturing cost is entailed, not to speak of the fact that no dies whatsoever are necessary with respect to the plain unbent lengths of strip metal which make up the shoe-supporting portions 10 and 12. p

Although I have shown the ends 16 and 17 bent downwardly and upwardly respectively, whereby a more attractive article is provided, nevertheless it will be obvious that these ends may, if desired, be bent in opposite directions or in the same direction. The essential feature of these bent ends lies in the fact that they are brought into parallelism with the supporting wall and hence into parallelism with the individual strips 10 and 12 to which they are to be pivoted.

In general, it will be obvious that changes in the details herein described and illustrated for the purpose of explaining the nature of my invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims. It is therefore intended that'these details be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A shoe rack comprising a pair of spaced identical C-shaped strips each of which has a medial portion attachable to a vertical wall, and parallel top and bottom portions projecting perpendicularly from said wall, the top portion being shorter than the bottom portion and having its free end bent downwardly into a plane parallel to said wall, the bottom portion having its free end bent upwardly into a plane parallel to said wall; and a pair of identical shoe-supporting strips one of which is pivoted at its opposite ends to the downwardly bent ends of said top portions and the other of which is pivoted at its opposite ends to the upwardly bent ends of said bottom portions, the four pivot axes thus involved being all perpendicular to said wall.

2. A continuous collapsible shoe display rack comprising a pair of brackets, each bracket having parallel arms of unequal lengths connected by a transverse portion, means for securing the transverse portion of the brackets to a surface of a support with the arms extending outward from the support, the shorter of said arms being uppermost, and transverse parallel bars permanently and pivotally connecting the upper and lower arms on said frames to engage the sole and heel of the shoes to support the shoes on an inclined plane and space them from the support.

3. A rack of the character described, comprising a pair of spaced C-shaped elements, each of which has a medial portion attachable to a wall and end portions projecting outwardly from said medial portion, one end portion of each C-shaped element being shorter than the other end portion thereof, the free extremities of each end portion being arranged at an angle to its end portion; and a pair of supporting strips connecting said extremities and one of which is pivoted at its opposite ends to the extremities of the shorter end portions and the other of which is pivoted at its opposite ends to the extremities of the longer end portions.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification.

ROBERT E. MILLER. 

